| Riboviria | |
|---|---|
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| Clockwise from top left: TEM of avian coronavirus, polio virus, bacteriophage Qβ, ebolavirus, tobacco mosaic virus, influenzavirus A, rotavirus, HIV-1. Center: homologous RT and RdRps with conserved palm domain. | |
Virus classification 
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| (unranked): | Virus |
| Realm: | Riboviria |
| Kingdoms | |
Riboviria is a realm of viruses that includes all viruses that use a homologous RNA-dependent polymerase for replication. It includes RNA viruses that encode an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, as well as reverse-transcribing viruses (with either RNA or DNA genomes) that encode an RNA-dependent DNA polymerase. RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), also called RNA replicase, produces RNA (ribonucleic acid) from RNA. RNA-dependent DNA polymerase (RdDp), also called reverse transcriptase (RT), produces DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) from RNA. These enzymes are essential for replicating the viral genome and transcribing viral genes into messenger RNA (mRNA) for translation of viral proteins.
Riboviria was established in 2018 to accommodate all RdRp-encoding RNA viruses and was expanded a year later to also include RdDp-encoding retroviruses. These two groups of viruses are assigned to two separate kingdoms: Orthornavirae for RdRp-encoding RNA viruses, and Pararnavirae for RdDp-encoding viruses, i.e. all reverse-transcribing viruses. While the realm has few prokaryotic viruses, it includes most eukaryotic viruses, including most human, animal, and plant viruses, however, metagenomic studies are changing this perspective.
Many of the most widely known viral diseases are caused by viruses in Riboviria, which includes coronaviruses, ebola virus, HIV, influenza viruses, and the rabies virus. These viruses and others have been prominent throughout history, including Tobacco mosaic virus, which was the first virus to be discovered. Many reverse transcribing viruses notably become integrated into the genome of their host as part of their replication cycle. As a result of that, it is estimated that about 6.5–8% of the human genome originates from these viruses. [citation needed]